The Wall of Names, Schirmeck Memorial

This immersive memorial, located at the foot of the Alsace-Moselle Memorial in Schirmeck, lists the Alsatian and Moselle victims of the Second World War.

Entirely digital, the installation invites visitors to reflect and discover this terrible procession of thousands of names. Projected onto three walls, 44,759 names appear progressively from bottom to top, with photos appearing randomly and superimposed on the names. Forced conscripts, soldiers in French uniform, civilian victims, members of the Resistance, those persecuted by the Vichy regime or the Nazis as Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, nomads and Roma, homosexuals, and those with mental illness: each of them reflects the complexity and specificity of the history of Alsace and Moselle in the 20th century.

Several multimedia displays invite visitors to choose a name and view its life story, documents, and photos. The program is linked to an online database, created by the Grand Est region, and is expected to grow as scientific research progresses and descendants contribute.

Particular attention was paid to the hierarchy of information and to navigation, designed to be as intuitive as possible. The graphic approach is based on a clean design and a muted color palette, in harmony with the raw appearance of the concrete. The main challenge was to preserve the unique atmosphere of the place, where memory, contemplation, and historical understanding converge in a single space.